Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Private Rented Housing: Social Security Benefits

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring forward legislation to make it illegal for landlords and agents to have blanket bans on renting to tenants (a) in receipt of benefits and (b) with children.

Rachel Maclean: I refer the hon Member to my comments in the debate of 24 May 2023, titled Private Rented Sector: Regulation (Official Report, Volume 733, Column 125WH).

Empty Property

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department expects all local authorities to have an empty homes strategy in place.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure councils bring empty homes back into use.

Rachel Maclean: The number of long-term empty homes remains substantially lower than when records began in 2004. As of May 2010, over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of October 2022, the number of long-term empty properties had fallen to 248,633.The Government wants to encourage empty homes back into use and to empower local leaders to reinvest in their communities. Local authorities already have many powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they receive the same level of reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Leader of the House on the parliamentary timetable for Second Reading of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Rachel Maclean: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Accommodation Centres: Planning Permission

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many times a Special Development Order has been used in each year since 2020.

Rachel Maclean: This information is publicly available, for example: The Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020 (legislation.gov.uk) and The Town and Country Planning (Napier Barracks) Special Development Order 2021 (legislation.gov.uk).

Buidings: Insulation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department collects on the remediation of buildings that have non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding safety faults.

Lee Rowley: Information and data on the remediation progress of high-rise (over 18 metres) residential and publicly-owned buildings for buildings with life safety risks associated with cladding is available here.The Department has estimated the number of mid-rise residential buildings (11-18 metres in height) requiring remediation, partial remediation or mitigation to alleviate external wall system life-safety fire risk and this information can be found here.

Business Premises: Greater London

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on average commercial rents per square metre in (a) Putney, (b) Wandsworth and (c) London.

Dehenna Davison: The department does not hold data centrally on the average commercial rents per square metre by area.

Department of Health and Social Care

General Practitioners: Workplace Pensions

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with Primary Care Support England on the funding provided to general practices to cover GP pension contributions.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme on a (a) monthly and (b) yearly basis; and what recent estimate his Department has made of the uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of recipients of Healthy Start paper vouchers who have not re-enrolled via the online registration system as of 1 June 2023.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Hospices

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to continue the NHS England Children's Hospice grant beyond the 2023-24 financial year.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Hospices

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timescale is for making a decision on whether to continue the NHS England Children's Hospice grant after the 2023-24 financial year.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gender Dysphoria: Leeds

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time in Leeds is for a specialist appointment following a referral for gender dysphoria.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Workplace Pensions

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of Primary Care Support England's funding of pension contributions of general practice GPs.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Workplace Pensions

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with Primary Care Support England on the funding provided to general practices to support employer pension contributions.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Reproduction: Health Services

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a strategy on reproductive health.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the (a) treatment and (b) support available for NHS staff experiencing the menopause.

Will Quince: There are over 70 Hormone Replacement Therapy products with the vast majority in good supply.To help ensure employees experiencing the menopause feel well informed and supported while at work, NHS England has signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge. NHS England has also published guidance for line managers and colleagues on supporting National Health Service staff through the menopause. This guidance helps NHS organisations, line managers, and those working in the NHS understand more about the menopause, how they can support colleagues at work and those experiencing menopause symptoms.

Vaccination: Research

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to establish a UK-wide vaccinology research network.

Will Quince: Following the successful national COVID-19 vaccine research delivery programme, United Kingdom research infrastructure is developing a streamlined Vaccine Innovation Pathway for clinical trials. As a first step, two UK Forums have been established to connect expert investigators and key research delivery partners with commercial companies to grow capacity and capability in mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer.

Patients: Information

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS patients who require (a) medication information and (b) patient information booklets in an additional language.

Will Quince: No specific estimate has been made of the number of National Health Service patients who require medication information and patient information booklets in an additional language.NHS trusts are expected to adhere to statutory requirements under the Equality Act 2010, and to their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Mental Health Services

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS England has made on developing a neuropsychiatry service specification.

Maria Caulfield: Neuropsychiatry services fall within the remit of NHS England Specialised Services and are listed in the Prescribed Specialised Services Manual, Version 6 which was published on 22 March 2023.The Neurology Clinical Reference Group (CRG) and its clinical members are currently scoping the breadth and nature of neuropsychiatry provision across England. It is expected that more detailed work will commence and be part of the Neurology CRG workplan in 2024/25.

Defibrillators: Finance

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Questions 184828 and 184829 on Defibrillators, when he plans to open the application process for the Automated External Defibrillator Fund to community groups.

Helen Whately: The Department is currently in the pre-procurement stage of determining a selected partner for the Automated External Defibrillator Fund. On 26 May 2023, the Department published the Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund (Grant Administration) for a supplier to manage grant applications for Automated External Defibrillators from local organisations and community groups. The notice is available at the following link:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2c6e4cd1-3302-448d-8ebe-2795fb996843It is anticipated that a contract will be awarded to a supplier to expand defibrillator access in the community by Summer 2023.

Eating Disorders: Palliative Care

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of palliative care for eating disorder patients.

Helen Whately: No specific assessment has been made.

IVF

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  how many (a) implantation failures, (b) spontaneous miscarriages, (c) terminations of pregnancies and (d) live births have been recorded pursuant to clinical application in the UK of (i) pronuclear transfer and (ii) spindle-chromosomal complex transfer.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows how many implantation failures, spontaneous miscarriages, terminations of pregnancies, and live births, have been recorded pursuant to clinical application in the United Kingdom of pronuclear transfer, and spindle-chromosomal complex transfer. Pronuclear transferSpindle-chromosomal complex transferImplantation failures120-230Spontaneous miscarriages00Terminations of pregnancy00Live births 0Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)Notes:The data is as recorded by the HFEA on 10 May 2023, these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.The HFEA publishes information which does not compromise patient confidentiality. All counts of less than five are not released as there is a significant possibility that when combined with other information which may be reasonably accessed, it could lead to the identification of a person to whom the HFEA owes a duty of confidentiality.Implantation failures is calculated as embryo transfer procedures subtracting where intrauterine foetal pulsations were recorded. This calculation does not account for chemical pregnancies as these are not recorded.This information has been banded as it could reasonably be used in combination with information already in the public domain to determine suppressed information in this table.

Medical Equipment: Energy

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he had with  Cabinet colleagues about support for people who run medical equipment in the home.

Helen Whately: The Secretary of State meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues on a variety of matters pertaining to health and social care, including but not limited to support for people with home-based medical equipment.

Aortic Stenosis

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) awareness among and (b) training for primary healthcare professionals of the different clinical indicators presented by (i) women and (ii) men with aortic stenosis.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action his Department is taking to improve the (a) information on and (b) resources for aortic stenosis provided to (i) women and (ii) primary healthcare professionals.

Helen Whately: The Department does not provide information on Aortic Stenosis. Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients on ways to reduce their risk of heart disease including Aortic Stenosis, including reference to the NHS website.NHS England have considered research that has evidenced that women tend to present symptoms of Aortic Stenosis at an older age than men. Both men and women exhibit the same symptoms of aortic stenosis, with dizziness and breathlessness more common in women.NHS England have recently published an adult breathlessness pathway tool for clinicians working in Primary Care. This will help support diagnosis of chronic breathlessness which is a more common symptom of Aortic Stenosis in women.NHS England have developed and published a new heart failure and heart valve disease e-learning for healthcare (e-LfH) course for primary care and community and enable health care professionals to better recognise the symptoms of Aortic Stenosis in both men and women, and to diagnose, manage, and support heart failure and heart valve disease patient.

Medical Detection Dogs

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of medical detection and bio detection dogs.

Helen Whately: No assessment has been made.

Dialysis Machines: Energy

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is offering to patients on home dialysis who face higher energy bills as the result of their treatment.

Helen Whately: Certain specialised services in the National Health Service, including home Haemodialysis, do include the provision of financial support to offset energy costs faced by patients using medical equipment at home. It is for individual commissioned providers to agree the process for the reimbursement of utility costs for Haemodialysis patients at a local level and manage their budgets autonomously.The Department does not have a policy on energy costs at this time. However, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are supporting the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s review of energy rebate schemes that are currently available for users of medical equipment at home; as well as supporting the Department of Energy’s policy development work in this area which they plan to publish for low-income vulnerable energy consumers post April 2024.

Skin Moles

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal in the National Health Service.

Helen Whately: The Department has made no assessment on the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal on the National Health Service. People are advised to visit their general practitioner (GP) with new or existing moles that have changed in shape or colour. If the GP suspects a mole is cancerous, a two week suspected cancer referral will be made. Depending on the outcome, the mole may be surgically removed. The NHS does not routinely provide mole removal for cosmetic reasons.

Hospitals: Construction

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to reduce the processing time of business case approvals for New Hospitals Programme bids.

Steve Barclay: The Government is committed to building 40 new hospitals by 2030 - backed by an expected over £20 billion of investment in hospital infrastructureWe are working with all trusts, including Kettering, on what the certainty this funding confirmation represents and how it will benefit staff and patientsOur new standardisation approach to hospital design and construction, Hospital 2.0, means the process to review and agree business cases will be more streamlined, delivering results more quickly and almost halving the average time to develop and build hospitals.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help maintain the supply of hormone replacement therapy medicines.

Will Quince: There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products available in the United Kingdom and the vast majority are in good supply. We are regularly engaging with individual suppliers to prevent and mitigate supply issues in the short and long term. The HRT supply position has improved considerably since last Spring. For example, the introduction of a new manufacturing facility for Oestrogel has meant that this product is now readily available for patients. Only two of the 22 Serious Shortage Protocols issued since April last year remain as the supply disruptions with most products experiencing shortages have been resolved.

IVF

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority as eligible for mitochondrial donation treatment in the UK; how many embryos have been produced using (a) pronuclear transfer and (b) spindle-chromosomal complex transfer; and how many embryos have been transferred to uteri pursuant to (a) pronuclear transfer and (b) spindle-chromosomal complex transfer.

Maria Caulfield: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) have advised that 32 patients have been licensed as eligible for mitochondrial donation treatment in the United Kingdom. The following table shows how many embryos have been produced during mitochondrial donation treatment and how many embryos have been transferred to uteri pursuant to clinical application in the UK of pronuclear transfer and spindle-chromosomal complex transfer.  Pronuclear transferSpindle-chromosomal complex transferEmbryos produced during mitochondrial donation treatment3170Embryos transferred240Source: HFEA, 2023 Notes:The data is as recorded by the HFEA on 4 June 2023, these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time.Embryos produced during mitochondrial donation treatment are calculated as the total number of embryos developed from patient eggs and number of embryos developed from mitochondrial donor eggs.

IVF

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority holds on children born as a result of mitochondrial donation with (a) a mitochondrial disease, (b) a birth defect, (c) genetic abnormality and (d) another adverse outcome.

Maria Caulfield: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have advised that it cannot provide the detailed information as requested as it may compromise patient confidentiality.

Radiotherapy: Medical Equipment

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a rolling system for automatically replacing linear accelerator machines in the NHS when they reach the end of their recommended 10-year lifespan.

Helen Whately: From April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines sits with local systems. This approach is supported by The Long Term Plan commitment to reform the radiotherapy tariff to support timely equipment replacement, while empowering local systems to determine how their capital is used, linked to their local priorities, the NHS Supply Chain bulk purchasing power which every provider is able to benefit from via framework deals amd the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS and the recent Capital Planning Guidance.

Xailin: Birmingham

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the availability of Xailin for prescriptions in Birmingham.

Will Quince: Xailin products are available for prescribing in Birmingham and Solihull. These can all be prescribed where the clinician is assured that the clinical condition warrants a prescription. The integrated care boards are not aware of any supply issues for any of these products.

Infectious Diseases: Screening

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2023 to Question 186242 on Infectious Diseases: Screening, if he will set out a timeline for (a) assessing the data gathered so far and (b) taking a decision on expanding the programme.

Neil O'Brien: The preliminary results from the first year of the opt-out testing programme for HIV and blood-borne viruses in emergency departments are planned to be released on 7 June 2023, with publishing thereof on that date or shortly thereafter.No specific timelines for assessing the data are currently planned. We are considering this alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030 and to examine the feasibility of further expanding this programme. A decision will be made in due course.

Health Services: Women

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish additional information on the allocation of funding for Women’s Health Hubs.

Maria Caulfield: On 8 March we announced a £25 million investment over the next two years to accelerate the development of women’s health hubs as part of the Women’s Health Strategy for England. More information on the allocation and delivery of the funding will be announced shortly.

Health Services: Women

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the women’s health clinical lead in NHS England will be appointed.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England continues to work with the Department on the appointment of a women’s health lead.

Faricimab

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of giving Faricimab to people at risk of blindness.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued final guidance recommending faricimab for treating wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema in adults in two separate appraisals on 29 June 2022. The National Health Service is legally required to fund faricimab for eligible patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. Further guidance is available at the following links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta800https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta799

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken at the Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to lead that Conference's efforts to encourage smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives.

Neil O'Brien: The Government encourages adult smokers to switch to vapes as they are substantially less harmful than smoking. They can help adult smokers to quit, particularly when combined with additional support from local stop smoking services. They are an important tool in our ambition to be Smokefree by 2030.The Government has regularly set out our position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and will do so at the next conference in November 2023. The delegation will not agree to any decisions which would impact on our ability to make vapes available for smokers who wish to quit.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent vendors being able to give free samples of vapes to consumers under the age of 18.

Neil O'Brien: On 30 May 2023, the Prime Minister announced a range of new proposals to protect children from the risks of vaping, including closing the loophole that allows the vaping industry to give free samples of vapes to children in England. Further details are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/no-more-free-vapes-for-kids

Home Office

Visas: Sudan

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process is in place for dispatching visas to people who have been successful in applying for Entry Clearance who were in Sudan but have had to flee due to the outbreak of war.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department will take to process applications for individuals waiting for a decision on entry clearance from Sudan following the closures of the visa application centres.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether visa application centres in countries neighbouring Sudan will be able to provide the visas dispatched to the Sudanese embassy and visa application centre in Khartoum following their closures due to the outbreak of war.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process is in place for individuals asking for information on a family member’s application for entry.

Robert Jenrick: Where our records confirm that a customer’s passport is being held in the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Khartoum, UK Visas and Immigration have contacted all those customers that have been issued or refused visa applications in our VAC in Khartoum and offering them a letter confirming that their passport is securely stored and attaching a digital copy of their passport, that may help support their travel out of Sudan and into a third country.Where the passport is held in Nairobi or Pretoria and a named individual (either the applicant or a designated 3rd party) is identified to return the passport to outside of Sudan, the passport can be sent (to the named individual) by courier or for collection from another visa application centre. For customers that have been able to exit Sudan, processes are in place to re-direct printing of their visa and endorsement on a Form for affixing a visa (FAV) to another VAC location of their choice for collection.UK Visas and Immigration are currently operating within their global customer service standards across all of the main legal migration routes for customers who make an entry clearance application from overseas. If exceptional compelling and compassionate circumstances are raised, these will be considered in the usual way.Details of current performance against these customer service standards are updated regularly and can be found at:Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).Customers are able to contact the UK Visas and Immigration contact centre, telephone: 0300 790 6268, Monday to Thursday (excluding bank holidays), 9am to 4:45pm and Friday (excluding bank holidays), 9am to 4:30pm.

Human Trafficking: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children in the UK are suspected of being victims of trafficking gangs.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Home Office publishes statistics of potential victims of modern slavery referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The data shows the number of potential victims referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) where exploitation occurred when they were a child It also shows the number of referrals received which are linked to County Lines. National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Sudan

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to contact visa applicants living in Sudan whose documents are in the Visa Application Centre in Khartoum.

Robert Jenrick: UK Visas and Immigration have contacted all customers where records show that their passports are in the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Khartoum. They have offered them a letter confirming that their passport is securely stored and attaching a digital copy of their passport, that may help support their travel out of Sudan and into a third country. For customers that have been able to exit Sudan, processes are in place to re-direct printing of their visa and endorsement on a Form for affixing a visa (FAV) to another VAC location of their choice for collection

British Nationality

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the High Court decision in R(Roehrig) v SSHD EWHC 31 (Admin) of January 2023, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to confirm the British citizenship status of people born between January 1983 and October 2000 who are affected by that case.

Robert Jenrick: We introduced the Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill on 24 May 2023 to address this issue.

English Channel: Surveillance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what aircraft her Department uses for the purposes of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations over the English Channel as of 1 June 2023.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office uses a range of ISR platforms for a variety of reasons and these are provided either directly by contracted suppliers, or through arrangements with other government departments, but it is not in the interests of operational security to itemise each of these capabilities or how they are used.

Surveillance: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the total budget allocated by her Department for the provision of a fixed-wing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance service by PAL Aerospace Ltd between April 2023 to October 2024.

Tom Tugendhat: Specific expenditure on ISR contracts is considered commercially and operationally sensitive information and is not published.

English Channel: Surveillance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations over the English Channel in each of the last five financial years.

Tom Tugendhat: Specific expenditure on ISR contracts is considered commercially and operationally sensitive information and is not published.

Police: Standards

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the adoption by police forces of the Right Care, Right Person operational model.

Chris Philp: Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and Chief Constables have the autonomy to decide whether their force will adopt the Right Care Right Person approach which originated in Humberside Police. This is an approach supported in the findings of the Policing Productivity Review that is being carried out, hosted by the National Police Chiefs Council, and one that Chiefs Council have agreed to promote as a national model.The model has been successfully deployed in Humberside and that people experiencing a mental health episode, where there is no immediate risk of serious harm or criminality, or the need for the use of police powers, will normally require a health response, ensuring those with the right skills and expertise can provide the best possible service for people in crisis.Government and health partners are currently finalising a new National Partnership Agreement between the police and health sectors, which will help to ensure that any emergency calls for service are responded to by the most appropriate agency to attend that incident; that those with the right skills and expertise can provide the best possible service for people in crisis.The approach will not mean that police completely withdraw from assisting where the threshold for their attendance has been met, where there is a real and immediate risk to life or serious harm or responding to a report of crime. As part of the National Decision Model, police are required to continually assess risk of harm and threat.

Immigration: Applications

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications and further submissions for (a) indefinite leave to remain, (b) family reunion, (c)  EU Settlement Scheme, (d) family and private life, (e) British citizenship, and (f) asylum were marked as closed cases after an initial response was provided to the Member of Parliament so that no further correspondence was initiated with the Member even where the case had been progressed in 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

Denis Kapustin

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Denis Kapustin has been banned from entering the UK.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether Denis Kapustin visited the UK in 2014.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office do not comment on individual cases.

Citizenship and Immigration: Applications

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applications for (a) asylum, (b) indefinite leave to remain and (c) citizenship were submitted more than 12 months ago; and how many and what proportion of such applications submitted in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009 took more than 12 months to be processed.

Miss Sarah Dines: .This information is not readily available in the format requested. Data on asylum applications and on indefinite leave to remain and citizenship applications, including on the age of outstanding asylum applications, is published as part of immigration statistics (at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2023) and Migration Transparency data (at www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Deep Sea Mining

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

Trudy Harrison: Defra works closely with leads across Government to advise on the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and the provision of effective protection for the marine environment. This includes collaboration with DBT, who are responsible for state sponsorship of UK Seabed Resources’ two exploration contracts, and the FCDO, who lead the UK delegation to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the international organisation through which States Parties organise and control deep-sea mining activities. We recognise the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources and are deeply concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. This is why the UK will maintain its precautionary and conditional position of not sponsoring or supporting the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and a strong, enforceable environmental regulatory framework has been developed at the ISA and is in place.

Marine Animals: Conservation

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the UK’s role in protecting hitherto undiscovered marine species.

Trudy Harrison: The UK Government plays a key role domestically and internationally to restore nature and halt global extinctions, both on land and in our ocean, through which we are delivering a range of activities which will contribute to the protection of known and currently undiscovered marine species. The UK was at the forefront of efforts to agree the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (“GBF”) at the UN Biodiversity Summit in December 2022. As leader of the Global Ocean Alliance, and Ocean co-chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, the UK helped deliver this landmark global deal for nature, with ambitious commitments relating to the protection, restoration, sustainable use and management of biodiversity, including the targets to halt human-induced extinctions of known threatened species and to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (30by30). Our Blue Belt programme now protects over 4.3 million square km of ocean around our overseas territories, and is an integral part of the UK’s contribution to the 30by30 target. We also continue to help developing countries around the world to protect their marine environments to the benefit of people and livelihoods through our £500m Blue Planet Fund, that aims to address climate change and biodiversity loss, support sustainable fisheries and tackle marine pollution. At home, the UK published an Environmental Improvement Plan in 2023, which sets out how we will deliver on the 25 Year Environment Plan. In English waters, we have established a comprehensive network of 178 marine protected areas covering 40% of English waters to help deliver the 30by30 commitment for the ocean, and we are now focusing on making sure they are protected properly. We have also committed to improve the Red List Index for England for species extinction by 2042 compared to 2022 levels.

Deposit Return Schemes

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of excluding products that sell fewer than 5,000 containers a year from the Deposit Return Scheme.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to review the impact of the Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern on small businesses.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Deposit Management Organisation takes into account the challenges facing small producers.

Rebecca Pow: In our 2021 consultation response, we set out the DRS scheme administrator (the Deposit Management Organisation) should consider the size of the producer when setting the producer fees. We will continue to review the impact on small businesses and consider further mitigations or support they might need as we move into implementation. Through relevant DRS sub-groups my officials engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and that includes small businesses such as small producers and small retailers.

Dangerous Dogs

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans that the Responsible Dog Ownership working group will report on its progress.

Trudy Harrison: We expect the Responsible Dog Ownership working group to report its findings later this year.

Biodiversity: Solihull

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to Solihull Council for the mandatory biodiversity net gain protections for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

Trudy Harrison: The Government issued grants to all local authorities in England in 2021/22 and 2022/23 to help them prepare for mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which will become a requirement in the planning system in November 2023. Further funding to help local authorities prepare for mandatory BNG, and implement it once it has become a requirement, will be confirmed in due course. Solihull Council has provisionally been allocated £15,638 for the period 1 April 2023 - 31 October 2023, but this is subject to confirmation.

Dangerous Dogs

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of banning the (a) sale and (b) breeding of American bully XL dogs.

Trudy Harrison: Defra’s Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce group involving the police, local authorities and NGOs is currently considering how best to manage public safety risks relating to dogs. We currently have no plans to ban the sale or breeding of American bully XL dogs.

Animals: Exports

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Leader of the House of Commons on the timescales for introducing legislative proposals to end live exports of animals for slaughter and fattening.

Mark Spencer: We remain committed to ending the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Leader of the House about our legislative programme and other matters. The Leader of the House will set out parliamentary business in the usual way.

Barbecues: Environment Protection

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2022 to Question 25935 on Barbecues: Environment Protection, when the research on the potential damage caused by (a) disposable barbecues and (b) portable stoves will be published.

Trudy Harrison: Research into the environmental impacts of single use barbecues, and other items, concluded in March. We are currently considering next steps which we aim to finalise soon.

Landfill: Contamination

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of potential risk of toxins from landfill sites leaking into public waterways.

Rebecca Pow: In England, the Environment Agency regulates operational and closed landfills through environmental permits to ensure a high standard of protection for people and the environment. Permits require the site operator to design, build and manage their sites to minimise or prevent the uncontrolled emission of pollutants on a site by site basis. If the permit does allow water to be discharged, it includes limits on what the operator is allowed. If the Environment Agency identifies pollution in water it has powers to take enforcement action. The Environment Agency is not the regulator for past historic landfills. Under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, it is the responsibility of local authorities to identify and prioritise contaminated land remediation where there is an unacceptable risk to health and the environment. Historic landfills are considered as part of local authorities Part 2A duties.

Deposit Return Schemes: Glass

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to include glass in the planned Deposit Return Scheme.

Rebecca Pow: Glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland. In England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be in scope of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme as will all other types of glass packaging placed on the market in all nations. EPR will place recycling targets on producers in relation to all glass packaging and require relevant obligated producers to cover the costs of collecting and managing glass packaging arising in household waste and discarded in street bins managed by local authorities.

Leader of the House

Legislation

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, which bills the Government (a) has and (b) has not withdrawn that it will not be proceeding with that were included in the 2022 Queen’s Speech.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government has delivered on many of its 2019 manifesto commitments, and will continue to do so. The 2022 Queen's Speech set out an ambitious legislative programme and so far this session 24 Bills have received Royal Assent.The House has been informed of three Bills that were announced in the Queen's Speech on 10 May 2022 that have been introduced to Parliament and will no longer make progress:Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill (25 May 2023, Official Report 733, columns 494-503);Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (27 February 2023, Official Report 728, columns 570-576); andSchools Bill (7 December 2022, Education Committee oral evidence: Accountability hearings, HC 58).The measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will now be pursued as single measure Bills. We remain fully committed to delivering our manifesto commitments and this approach is now the surest and the quickest way of doing so.The Government will inform the House of any further changes in the usual way.

Members: Employment

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Members of Parliament holding second jobs on the service they are able to provide to their constituents.

Penny Mordaunt: The Committee on Standards has carefully considered the matter of MPs holding second jobs and conducting outside work and resolved not to recommend limiting this in the absence of a consensus in favour of restrictions on time spent and earnings from outside work.The Government believes that an MPs’ primary role is and must be to serve their constituents and represent their interests in Parliament. That is why we brought forward a motion implementing proposals recommended in the Committee on Standards’ reports on a revised Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules for MPs.

Department for Business and Trade

Private Companies: Assets

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has powers to review substantial transfers of assets between private companies when the proposed transaction may (a) be over value and (b) present significant risks to the employees and suppliers of the company purchasing the assets.

Kevin Hollinrake: Directors of a company must act in good faith to promote its success for the beneﬁt of its members as a whole. When taking decisions, directors must have regard to the interests of employees and the need to foster business relationships with suppliers, customers and others. My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business and Trade has powers to appoint inspectors to conduct confidential investigations into trading companies where information suggests serious corporate abuse and such an investigation would be in the public interest. In an insolvency situation, she has powers to investigate the conduct of company directors.

Pigmeat: China

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many pork export licences to China were voluntarily surrendered by UK abattoirs in 2020; and how many and what proportion of these surrendered licenses are yet to be reinstated.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of China not reinstating the export licences of British pork producers on the UK economy.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on employment in UK industries of the continued inability of British pork producers to regain export licenses for China.

Nigel Huddleston: The China export licences of five UK pork establishments were suspended following COVID-19 outbreaks at their sites in 2020 and 2021. The export licenses of three of these five establishments remain suspended.High-quality UK agri-food and drink exports are an important part of our trading relationship with China, with over a quarter (28%) of our overall pork exports going to China in 2022, with a value of £95m. We recognise that these exports link to UK jobs, which is why Ministers have been consistently and proactively raising these suspensions as a priority with their Chinese counterparts to achieve the relisting of the pork establishments as soon as possible.

Deep Sea Mining

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the economic impact of deep sea mining in the period since 2015.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University. The terms of reference included a review of minerals contained in seafloor deposits and how this compares to terrestrial resources, with discussion on future resource potential and knowledge gaps. The review was published in October 2022 and is available here:https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/

Trade Agreements

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the most recent meetings of her Department's (a) thematic working groups and (b) strategic trade advisory group took place; and when the next meetings of these groups are expected to take place.

Nigel Huddleston: The most recent meeting of the Strategic Trade Advisory Group was 13 June 2022. The most recent meeting dates of the Thematic Working Groups are listed below. 29/06/2022 – Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises30/06/2022 – Trade for Development21/07/2022 – Customs28/07/2022 – Procurement08/09/2022 – Intellectual Property13/10/2022 – Sustainability17/01/2023 – Technical Barriers to Trade18/01/2023 – Implementation and Market Access26/01/2023 – Cross-Cutting Services21/04/2023 – Financial Services (led by HMT) The Department for Business and Trade is reforming its approach to external engagement, to meets the needs of industry and match the priorities of the new Department. A new approach will be set out in due course, but in the meantime the Department continues to engage with a full range of interested parties on key issues.

Deep Sea Mining

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had on the potential merits of imposing a moratorium on deep sea mining with her counterparts in (a) France, (b) New Zealand, (c) Chile and (d) other countries which have introduced a ban or a moratorium on deep sea mining .

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The UK is fully engaged in the ongoing negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council and Assembly. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office leads the UK delegation to the ISA. The UK’s policy is not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong enforceable environmental Regulations, Standards and Guidelines have been developed by the ISA and are in place. The UK’s approach is both precautionary and conditional.

Energy Intensive Industries: Subsidies

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Government spent on subsidies to high energy using industries last year.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Over £450 million was provided across the Energy Intensive Industry schemes in 2022. This was in addition to support provided by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) for businesses and other non-domestic customers. The EBRS ended on 31 March 2023 and provided around £7 billion of support to businesses, including high energy using industries.

Trade Agreements: Switzerland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to discuss the facilitation of (a) travel and (b) cultural exchanges between the UK and Switzerland during free trade agreement negotiations with that country.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK is focused on seeking an agreement that reflects the nature of our economies, delivering modern service and investment provisions, including long term certainty on mobility arrangements to facilitate the travel of business people for work.UK and Swiss shared values present an opportunity for greater exchange and cooperation on areas of shared interest, including areas of research and development, for example.

Trade Agreements: Switzerland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her expected timescale is for signing a free-trade agreement with Switzerland.

Nigel Huddleston: Further to the launch of the UK-Swiss free trade agreement on 15 May 20203, the UK hosted the first round of negotiations the week commencing Monday 22nd May 2023. A second round of negotiations will take place in the autumn. There is no set timescale for completing negotiations, the UK will prioritise quality of outcomes over speed in the concluding the agreement.

Minerals: Mining

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) availability and (b) extraction cost for (i) land-based and (ii) sea bed critical minerals.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: There is no deep-sea mining currently happening in areas beyond national jurisdictions. The Government commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University, to support informed decision making regarding potential future development of mineral resources in the deep sea. Chapter Four of that review addresses Economics, and the full document (published in October 2022) is available here:https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/

Trade: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the UK's trade finance gap; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for Business and Trade does not maintain an estimate of the United Kingdom’s trade finance gap.However, the government has a comprehensive trade finance offer to businesses.This includes the range of products offered by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, which has a mission to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing so sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.In 2021/22, UKEF provided £7.4 billion of support to exporters, supporting 545 companies directly (of whom 81% were small and medium sized enterprises), and thousands more indirectly in supply chains.

Members: Correspondence

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to reply to the email of 21 February 2023 from the right hon. Member for Leeds Central to the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of a constituent, which was transferred to her Department on 24 February 2023, referenced MC 2023/14593.

Kevin Hollinrake: The correspondence in question was transferred to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Andrew Bowie, the Minister for Nuclear and Networks, responded to the letter on 24th May 2023.

Consumer Goods: Safety

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when her department plans to publish its Product Safety Review.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Product Safety Review consultation is currently being finalised and will be published shortly.

Overseas Workers: Visas

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to support businesses applying for visas for staff who need to stay in European countries for more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

Kevin Hollinrake: To help businesses navigate the visa and work permit rules of EU countries, the Government has published guidance on GOV.UK on the entry requirements for each EU Member State, as well as for Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The Government is also using the Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s governance structures to ensure the European Union upholds its commitments on business travel.

Department for Education

Apprentices: Taxation

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on the 10 percent top-up of apprenticeship levy funds in employer accounts in each of the last five years.

Robert Halfon: The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it has supported us to grow the apprenticeship budget to £2.7 billion in 2024/25, for employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010.The apprenticeship levy is paid by UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million, and is collected by HM Revenue and Customs. Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training through an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.The total of apprenticeship levy funds and the 10% top up form the overall amount available for levy-paying employers to use for training their employees. As such, it is not possible to distinguish what proportion of spend relates to the 10% top up.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many mental health support teams (a) are in place and (b) will be in place in the next 12 months.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school students (i) have access and (ii) will have access in the next 12 months to a mental health support team.

Claire Coutinho: The delivery of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in education settings is led by NHS England, with support from the department. MHSTs support the mental health needs of children and young people aged 5 to 18 in primary, secondary and further education (FE).MHSTs have three core functions:To deliver evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues.To support the senior mental health lead, where established, in each school or college to introduce or develop a whole school or college approach.To give timely advice to school and college staff, and liaise with external specialist service to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education.Guidance on senior mental health lead training can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-mental-health-lead-training, and guidance on a whole school or college approach to mental health support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.There are currently 398 operational MHSTs in place, and a further 100 teams are currently training Education Mental Health Practitioners, which means around 500 MHSTs will be up and running by April 2024.An estimated 1.4 million (32%) primary school pupils, and 1.6 million (46%) secondary school pupils are covered by the current operational MHSTs. Data is not yet available by school type for the next 12 months. The department anticipates coverage of pupils in schools and learners in FE to increase from the current 35% to around 44% overall in 2024.Further information on the MHST rollout progress is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156762/Transforming_CYPMH_implementation_programme__data_release_May_2023.pdf.

Music: Education

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the new geographies for music hubs will be published.

Nick Gibb: In June 2022, the Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published ‘The power of music to change lives: a national plan for music education’. The plan sets out the Government’s priorities until 2030 for music education for children and young people, including plans to strengthen the success of Music Hubs.As part of the plan, the Department announced its intention to re-compete the role of Music Hub Lead Organisations and to transition to a Music Hub structure, where Hubs strategically cover multiple Local Authority areas.Arts Council England, as the fundholder of the Music Hub Programme, has led on the consultation process. To date, there has been a series of focus groups which were conducted in January 2023 and surveys regarding the proposal to change the Music Hub’s structure and geographical areas. In March 2023, Arts Council England published the proposed new areas and invited those affected by the proposed changes to provide feedback via a survey.Arts Council England published the new Music Hub geographical areas on Tuesday 6 June, and issued a public notification on the timetable for the Music Hubs competition on 25 May 2023. They will also share how the final areas were informed by sector feedback from the most recent consultation in March.

Department for Education: Equality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people were employed by her Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Nick Gibb: The average headcount of staff employed by the Department (excluding arm's length bodies of the Department) to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in the respective years is:YearHeadcount2021920228

Children in Care

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to collect data on the number of parents who have had children removed from their care on multiple occasions.

Claire Coutinho: Local authorities provide information on looked after children through the SSDA903 annual return, but this does not include information on the family circumstances of looked after children.The department recognises the need to collect the right data about children’s social care services to help achieve better outcomes for vulnerable children and young people. That is why in ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department committed to developing a children’s social care dashboard to support the new National Framework and a data strategy for children’s social care. Through these initiatives, the department will look at how data gaps could be addressed.The consultation on the children’s social care dashboard concluded on 11 May 2023 and the department is currently analysing the results. The department will set out the consultation findings and more information about the children’s social care data strategy later in the year.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure secondary school students are supported with their mental health.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that primary school students are supported with their mental health.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in schools in England are covered by mental health support teams in schools.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health support teams in schools.

Claire Coutinho: The mental health of children and young people is a priority for this government. The department is committed to ensuring that all schools are safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote mental wellbeing and provide early, targeted support to help all pupils thrive.To ensure pupils are supported, the department is offering all primary schools, secondary schools and colleges a grant to train senior mental health leads who can put in place effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant.It is also vital that children and young people have the tools they need to understand and look after their own mental wellbeing. That is why, as of September 2020, our relationships, health and sex education curriculum has a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing. At primary, pupils will learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary, teaching will include the benefits of community participation, and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.Through health education, pupils will also be taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression.  They will also be taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.We are also increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working in schools and colleges. These teams offer support to children and young people experiencing common mental health issues and facilitate smoother access to external specialist support. As of March 2023, 3.4 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs in schools and colleges in England. Of these, 3.1 million were pupils in schools.We welcome the findings of the Independent Early Evaluation of Children and Young People’s Mental Health MHST Trailblazer Programme, which revealed substantial progress in implementing MHSTs, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. The findings can be found at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/brace/projects/children-and-young-people%27s-mental-health-trailblazer-programme.aspx. Positive early impacts include improved school and college staff knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues, improved access to support for some groups, and improvements in partnership working. The study also found the experiences of the majority of children and young people who had contact with an MHST were positive. The results of the report will continue to help inform future rollout and mobilisation of MHSTs to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.Further data on the delivery and uptake of MHSTs and senior mental health lead training grants can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Dasher

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will support the search for grave sites of those lost in HMS Dasher in 1943.

Dr Andrew Murrison: HMS DASHER tragically sank in March 1943 following an explosion onboard where no enemy action was involved. Records show that 23 servicemen are buried in marked graves at the following locations, Ardrossan Cemetery (13), Greenock Cemetery (seven), Frizington Roman Catholic Cemetery (one), Mearns Cemetery (one) and at Paisley (Hawkhead) Cemetery (one). It is Government policy that, where a wreck of a ship is the final resting place for our Service men and women, they should be allowed to lie undisturbed. As DASHER is the last known resting place for 356 Servicemen, the wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986; this means the site can only be accessed under a licence granted by the Secretary of State for Defence. The lives of those lost are commemorated on war memorials around the country.

Armed Forces: Motor Vehicles

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will provide support for the vehicle import tax liabilities of a member of the armed forces who has purchased a vehicle under the terms of the Personal Export Scheme and is redeployed to a theatre where they cannot take their vehicle with them and is unable to sell it in their current deployment because it is right hand drive.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Personal taxation is a matter for HMRC. However, this Department provides financial support to mitigate financial disadvantage that Service personnel may face, in addition to core pay and X-Factor. This includes overseas private vehicle provision which assists Service personnel with the costs of accessing a vehicle overseas.Expense and allowance policy is kept under constant review and where evidence of new, persistent and common disadvantage is identified, options are considered in the context of the tax implications both for individual Service personnel and the Department.

Nuclear Weapons: Procurement

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Integrated Review Refresh 2023: Responding to a more contested and volatile world, published on 13 March 2023, when his Department plans to announce which budgets the £3 billion of additional funding for the nuclear enterprise will be allocated to.

James Cartlidge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor provided to Question 172329 on 28 March 2023.Nuclear Weapons; Finance (docx, 17.9KB)

AUKUS

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the infrastructure needed to deliver the SSN-AUKUS submarine class by the early 2030s.

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what provisional estimate his Department has made of the (a) size of the UK SSN-AUKUS fleet and (b) cost of the SSN-AUKUS programme.

James Cartlidge: The decision on how many SSN-AUKUS submarines will be required is yet to be determined, it is therefore too early to provide a cost estimate for the programme at this stage.

Veterans: Advisory Services

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans contacted the Veterans Gateway via email in each year since 2019.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans contacted the Veterans Gateway via text in each year since 2019.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans contacted the Veterans Gateway via live chat in each year since 2019.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have received assistance from the Veterans Gateway in each year since 2019.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on the Veterans Gateway in 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 June to Question 186791.Veterans Advisory Services (docx, 18.1KB)

Afghanistan: Refugees

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2023 to Question 174212 on on Afghanistan: Refugees, if he will publish the data for (a) April 2023 (b) May 2023.

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many RAF flights to evacuate principals eligible for resettlement under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and their families left Pakistan in each month since November 2022.

James Heappey: Since December 2022, as and when relocation to the UK has become possible for individuals or families, we use commercial flights, rather than RAF or charter flights, to bring individuals to the UK. Hence, no RAF Voyager or commercial flights have flown from Pakistan to the UK between December 2022 and March 2023.  MonthTotal RAF flights departed Pakistan organised by MODNov 20222Dec 20220Jan 20230Feb 20230Mar 20230Apr 20230May 20230

Afghanistan: Refugees

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many ARAP-eligible (a) principals and (b) family members have arrived in the UK in each of the last six months.

James Heappey: The total number of Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) eligible principals and family members relocated to the UK under the ARAP scheme since December 2022 is included in the table below. It is important that the Government takes steps to ensure that when Afghans are relocated under the ARAP scheme that necessary support mechanisms are in place and they move into appropriate, settled accommodation to set them up for a successful life here in the UK.   MonthPrincipalsFamily membersDec -202210Jan - 2023724Feb - 2023519Mar - 202320Apr - 202303May - 202303

Afghanistan: Refugees

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway one principals resettled in the UK came through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

James Heappey: No Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Principals have been resettled under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme (ARAP).The ACRS and ARAP are different schemes administered separately. ACRS is a referrals-based scheme, of which Pathway One is administered by the Home Office. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not involved in the administration of the ACRS. Applications to the ARAP scheme are processed by the MOD.

Nuclear Weapons: Procurement

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the whole-life cost of the UK Replacement Warhead Programme.

James Cartlidge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided to his Question 186133 on 25 May 2023.Nuclear Weapons: Procurement (docx, 22.4KB)

Armed Forces

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the potential savings of reducing the armed forces by 10,000 personnel in each year until 2030-31.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence is already committed to a reduction in Regular military personnel as part of the restructuring of the Armed Forces following the 2021 Integrated Spending Review. This restructuring presents Defence with the opportunity to undertake the modernisation required to meet all of their current commitments, keep the country safe, and deliver a force that is fit for the challenges of the future. The Government remains committed to ensuring that this country has the world class Armed Forces that it needs and deserves, with an extra £11 billion recently allocated over the next five years that will provide improved resilience and readiness for the military.

Women and Equalities

Women: STEM Subjects

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help support women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs.

Maria Caulfield: We’ve made great progress in increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects but we need to do more to get women into STEM jobs.To support this, we are delivering a new STEM returners programme to refresh and grow the skills of people who have taken career breaks to care for others.Following a successful recruitment campaign, the first cohort of returners began training in May.

Guide Dogs

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that users of guide dogs are not refused entry to public establishments.

Stuart Andrew: No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they use a guide or other assistance dog. Ignorance of the law is not a defence.Under the Equality Act 2010, businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs.The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers.

Disability: Cost of Living

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps the Government has taken to support people with disabilities with increases in the cost of living.

Mims Davies: Over 8 million households on eligible means-tested benefits will receive Cost of Living Payments, totalling up to £900. The first instalment of £301 was paid recently.In addition, over six million people receiving an eligible disability benefit will receive a further £150 disability cost of living payment from the 20th of June.

Women: Poverty

Richard Thomson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in poverty levels for women under 25.

Mims Davies: This government believes work is the best way to help people, including young women, to improve their financial circumstances.With over a million vacancies across the United Kingdom, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and to progress in work.Specialist employment support for young people under 25 is available through our national network of JCPs.

British Sign Language Act 2022

Aaron Bell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made on implementing the British Sign Language Act 2022.

Mims Davies: The British Sign Language Act includes a duty on the DWP Secretary of State to publish a report on the use of British Sign Language in public communications by ministerial departments. The first reporting period was completed on the 30th of April this year and the report is due to be published in Summer. In addition, DWP has established a dual language board of BSL users to inform HMG on BSL matters.

Transgender People: Hate Crime and Transphobia

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government's policies on tackling hate crime and discrimination against transgender people.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Government takes all forms of hate crime seriously. We expect the police to make sure the cowards who commit these abhorrent crimes feel the full force of the law. The Government is committed to reducing all crime which is why we have successfully recruited over 20,000 extra police officers. We are clear that transgender people deserve our respect, support and understanding. There are processes in place, with the right checks and balances, to allow for those who wish to legally change their gender to do so.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households identified as being in fuel poverty under the Low Income Low Energy efficiency  indicator who are ineligible for the Warm Homes Discount.

Amanda Solloway: The Warm Home Discount scheme is a key policy that provides rebates to low-income and vulnerable households. The Government expanded the scheme in England and Wales to support around 3 million households and reformed the scheme to focus the support to households likely to be facing the most severe fuel poverty. Based on the fuel poverty statistics published in February 2023, the Government estimates that 2.3 million fuel poor households in England in 2022 were not eligible. This includes those who are fuel poor under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency indicator but who do not claim means-tested benefits and are therefore not eligible under the scheme.The Government has provided extensive help through other schemes and payments. By the end of June this year, the Government will have covered nearly half a typical household’s energy bill through the Energy Price Guarantee and Energy Bills Support Scheme since October, with a typical household saving around £1,500.Fuel poverty statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

UK Emissions Trading Scheme

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the value of carbon allowances issued to businesses that ceased operations in 2022.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of providing free carbon allowances to businesses that have ceased operations in the last 12 months.

Graham Stuart: UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) allowances are given for free to eligible industrial operators at risk of carbon leakage. In the year after activity is permanently ceased, these free allowances are no longer distributed. However, operators retain free allowances to which they were entitled in the final year they operate, as they will still have a carbon leakage exposure which must be mitigated.Nine UK ETS operators permanently ceased operations by the end of the 2022 scheme year, and were allocated 623,241 allowances in that year, worth c.£49M at 2022 average UK allowances prices.

Great British Insulation Scheme

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to launch the Great British Insulation Scheme.

Graham Stuart: Energy suppliers have been able to deliver insulation measures under the Great British Insulation Scheme from 30 March 2023, when the Government response to an earlier consultation on scheme design was published. The Scheme is expected to be fully established in law in summer 2023, following the laying in Parliament of the draft Statutory Instrument on 24 May 2023.

Natural Gas

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking (a) domestically and (b) in collaboration with international partners to achieve the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative.

Graham Stuart: In 2020, the UK committed to the World Bank’s ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’ Initiative. In the North Sea Transition Deal, industry committed to accelerate compliance ahead of 2030. With support from Government, industry is on track to meet this target. The UK is a long-standing partner of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. The UK put methane reduction towards the top of the agenda during its COP Presidency, driving support behind the Global Methane Pledge. At COP27, the UK signed up to the Joint Declaration by Energy Importers and Exporters on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels.

Energy Bills Rebate

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of eligible households applied for Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding before 31 May 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The latest application figures for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding were published on 11 May as of 3 May on the GOV.UK website - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-alternative-fund-gb-ni-and-alternative-fuel-payment-alternative-fund-applications-made-by-customers. The next set of figures will be published in June which will include application figures for the scheme up to 31 May 2023.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Self-employed

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants had the minimum income floor applied during the qualifying period for the Cost of Living Payment with the 25 February 2023 deadline; and how many such claimants received a nil payment due to the minimum income floor.

Guy Opperman: During the qualifying period for the Cost of Living Payment with the 25 February 2023 deadline, there were 141,900 Universal Credit claimants that had the minimum income floor applied. 12,000 of these claimants received a nil payment potentially due to the minimum income floor. NotesFigures are rounded to the nearest 100.Claimants are treated as having the Minimum Income Floor applied if they have been assessed as gainfully self-employed, are not in a start-up period during which the Minimum Income Floor is not applied, and do not have a temporary easement by which their Minimum Income Floor is set to zero.Claimants to whom the Minimum Income Floor applied includes both those whose actual net earnings are below their Minimum Income Floor and those whose actual net earnings are above.We have identified claimants as receiving a nil payment potentially due to the minimum income floor if they had a nil payment and their actual net earnings were below the minimum income floor. Not all of these claimants would necessarily have received an award in the absence of the minimum income floor.Claimants are excluded if their claim closed before the end of the assessment period falling in the qualifying period.Figures may be subject to retrospective changes as more up-to-date data becomes available or if methodological improvements are made.

Jobcentres: Staff

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what qualifications are required for the role of work coach within job centres.

Guy Opperman: Work Coaches are not required to hold any specific qualifications to undertake their role. They undergo a comprehensive learning journey designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a high quality, efficient service to all claimants. Work Coaches receive on-going learning in their roles and access to guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of benefits that were fraudulently claimed in each of the last ten financial years.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) reduce fraud within the benefits system.

Tom Pursglove: The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) estimates on the value of both fraud and error in the benefit system, can be found in our annually published statistical report on the Monetary Value of Fraud and Error. Reports for each of the last ten financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This year’s figures show that the work we have been undertaking to reduce Fraud and Error is having an impact, with the headline rate of overpayment having decreased by 0.4% from 4.0% to 3.6%.Our Fraud Plan, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, published on 19 May 2022, sets out our approach and explains how additional investment is allowing us to recruit 1,400 more staff into our counter-fraud teams and develop enhanced data analytics as a means of preventing and detecting fraud and error.Additionally, we are creating a dedicated team to deliver Targeted Case Reviews of existing Universal Credit claims. This supports wider Government aims of strong oversight and control and efficiently managing the public purse. Over the next five years we expect to review millions of potentially high-risk claims, including suspicious cases which entered our system at the height of the pandemic.More information on our Fraud Plan, which also explains our ambition to modernise and strengthen our legislative framework, can be found here:Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Access to Work Programme

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation by disabled people in the Access to Work programme.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Work is a demand-led, discretionary grant that supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in sustainable, paid employment. In 2021/22 over 38,500 people with a disability or a health condition received a payment from Access to Work and this year Access to Work has already seen a significant rise in the number of applications. Access to Work regularly engages with stakeholders, partners, and employer associations, to raise awareness of the scheme. To support local engagement Access to Work has delivered a series of upskilling sessions to Jobcentre Work Coaches and developed a toolkit to support employer engagement. In addition, the DWP regularly provides information about the support available via its social media channels. To further raise awareness of Access to Work and support transitions into employment, my department has worked with stakeholders to develop an Adjustments Passport. The Adjustments Passport provides the holder with an up-to-date record of their workplace adjustments, it can support conversations with employers and help remove the need for an Access to Work assessment.In May 2022, the Health Adjustments Passport was rolled out in Jobcentres to support disabled jobseekers. In the coming months a service leavers passport will be made available to support Armed Forces personnel with their transition into civilian employment; and from September 2023 the Adjustments Passport will be rolled out across universities.

Personal Independence Payment: Telephone Services

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average response time was for answering calls to the personal independence payment new claims phone line in each year since 2015.

Tom Pursglove: Please find below Average Speed to Answer data for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) New Claims lines for each year since April 2015. This includes calls routed through the Service Lines PIP New Claims, PIP New Claims Reassessment and PIP New Claims Special Rules for the Terminally Ill. YearBusiness GroupProduct LineAverage Speed to Answer (hh:mm:ss)2015/16DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:01:392016/17DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:04:332017/18DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:01:512018/19DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:02:262019/20DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:03:492020/21DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:05:332021/22DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:05:322022/23DisabilityPersonal Independence Payment00:02:33 Please note this information is derived from the department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As the DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by the DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for a Personal Independence Payment assessment in the latest period for which data is available.

Tom Pursglove: This information is readily available. It is published quarterly as part of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) statistics on GOV.UK and can be found within the PIP: Clearance/Outstanding Times and Customer Journey statistics tables.

Personal Independence Payment: Disability Aids

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2023 to Question 186109 on Personal Independence Payment: Disability Aids, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of compiling a list of aids and appliances that are recognised for claimants of the Personal Independence Payment.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 30 May 2023 to Question 186109 on Personal Independence Payment: Disability Aids, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using fidget toys as an aid to support each of the Personal Independence Payment Daily Living Activities.

Tom Pursglove: Aids and appliances are devices which improve, provide, or replace, the claimant’s impaired physical or mental function. For the purpose of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment, aids and appliances may be everyday objects, but whether they are considered as aids in any particular case depends on how the claimant uses the object compared to how (if at all) it might typically be used by someone with no relevant impairment. It is therefore not possible to compile a list of aids and appliances that are recognised for PIP claimants.

Personal Independence Payment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2023 to Question 125421 on Personal Independence Payment, in what ways elements of the Personal Independence Payment claims process have been adapted to provide further support for this group.

Tom Pursglove: Where claimants are considered to require additional support, elements of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims process are adapted to provide further support. This includes help filling in the form and protections for failing to return the questionnaire, or for failing to attend an assessment. Claimants who require additional support to engage with the PIP application process are guaranteed to have an assessment if they fail to return their PIP2 questionnaire.

Statutory Sick Pay: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the rate of statutory sick pay on the numbers of disabled employees leaving work.

Tom Pursglove: We have not made a robust assessment of the number of disabled people who have left work due to the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

State Retirement Pensions: Fraud

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many investigations his Department's serious fraud team carried out into cases relating to the state pension in each financial year since 2020-21; and what the outcomes of these investigations were.

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length was of investigations undertaken by his Department's serious fraud team into cases relating to the state pension in each of the last three years.

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the total amount paid in fraudulent State Pension claims in Yorkshire and the Humber in the last financial year.

Tom Pursglove: State Pension is rarely the target for serious and organised criminals. Since 2020/21, a total of four serious fraud investigations have taken place involving State Pension (one in 2020/21 and three in 2022/23). As none of these investigations have reached court yet, outcomes cannot be provided. Investigations of this type are extremely complex. We cannot break down the average length of investigations, as this information is not recorded by our Economic Serious Organised Crime team (ESOC). Estimates on the value of fraud and error in the benefit system can be found in our annual statistical report on the Monetary Value of Fraud and Error. The level of fraud in State Pension in 2022/23, was estimated to be 0.0%. Our estimates do not break down data by region. Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Personal Independence Payment: Applications

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the new online application service for Personal Independence Payments will include a facility to update a current claim with (a) new address and (b) other information.

Tom Pursglove: The Health Transformation Programme will transform the entire Personal Independence Payment (PIP) service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments. We are developing the new service carefully and incrementally, designing the service around the needs of claimants. We have begun by focussing on the initial application part of the process and we are operating a small-scale test of the new online apply service. In time, we intend that the transformed PIP service will let claimants update their address and other information online. Currently, claimants using the online application process can update their claim by calling the PIP phone line, as other claimants do.

Jobcentres: Buildings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has commissioned a survey to identify buildings within the Jobcentre estate which may have been constructed with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.

Mims Davies: DWP Estates can confirm that a survey programme was undertaken between 2020-21 to identify properties containing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). The RAAC survey undertaken identified four sites within the DWP Estate containing RAAC planks. Since the survey, one of the sites has been divested and the other three are being managed in accordance with available guidance on RAAC.

Members: Correspondence

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will respond to the letter sent by the hon. Member for Glasgow North East to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Pensions, dated 24th March 2023.

Mims Davies: A reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member was sent on 3 May from the relevant Minister.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nigeria: Christianity

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Nigerian counterparts on (a) religious freedom and (b) violence against Christians in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Insecurity in Nigeria is detrimental to the country's diverse communities, including Christians, and undermining freedom of religion or belief. I [Andrew Mitchell] discussed the effects of insecurity on communities with President Tinubu in December 2022. Additionally, in July 2022, at the UK's Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Nigerian High Commissioner reiterated his Government's commitment to freedom of religion or belief. Our High Commission in Nigeria regularly engages with Nigerian officials and local communities on this. We will continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to assist affected communities and implement long-term solutions.

Bilateral Aid: Equality

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of bilateral programme funding had a gender equality policy marker in the last two years for which information is available; and what proportion of that funding had gender equality as a (i) principal and (ii) significant objective.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Official data, sourced from the Statistics for International Development and OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Creditor Reporting System, is available for 2020 and 2021. This data indicates that in 2020, 69 per cent of FCDO bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme budget spend was gender-marked, with (1) 63 per cent marked as Significant and (2) 6 per cent marked as Principal. In 2021, 61 per cent of FCDO bilateral ODA programme budget spend was gender-marked, with (1) 54 per cent marked Significant and (2) 7 per cent marked as Principal. As part of our new International Women and Girls Strategy, we commit to at least 80 per cent of FCDO's bilateral aid programmes having a focus on gender equality by 2030. This is a reflection of how we are prioritising gender equality in our work and investment moving forward.

Climate Change: Development Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what  proportion of his Department's international climate finance was gender marked using the OECD gender equality policy marker in the last two years for which information is available.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: In the financial year 2020/21, 57 percent of FCDO programmes spending International Climate Finance were marked with the Significant (1) OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Gender Policy Marker and 2 percent were marked as Principal (2). In financial year 2021/22, 61 percent were marked with the Significant (1) OECD DAC Gender Policy Marker and 1 percent as Principal (2).

Kashmir: Peace Negotiations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to facilitate a peaceful resolution in Jammu and Kashmir acceptable to the population of that area .

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: India and Pakistan are long-standing, important friends of the UK. We encourage both to engage in dialogue to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir that considers the wishes of the Kashmiri people and supports regional stability.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department made an assessment of the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir before agreeing to attend the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his department made an assessment of the implications for his policies of participation in the G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The G20 Third Tourism Working Group Meeting in Srinagar was attended by a delegation of UK officials based in India. This decision was in line with the high priority the UK places on the G20 as a forum to address pressing global challenges. Prior to attending, all relevant factors were taken into account.The UK Government's position is clear that any allegation of human rights abuses should be investigated thoroughly, promptly, and transparently. The UK's participation in this meeting does not change our longstanding position, which is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, considering the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Department for Transport

Driving Licences: Ukraine

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2023 on Question 185770 on Driving Licences: Ukraine, whether the term at pace means Ukrainian refugees can continue to use a Ukrainian driving license to drive in the UK and will not invalidate their insurance so that can continue to travel to work.

Mr Richard Holden: My Department has recently carried out a consultation exploring a proposal to extend the period which Ukrainians can use their driving licence, and we expect to publish the results shortly. It remains a legal requirement for anyone on UK roads to have a valid license and it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure they have appropriate insurance to drive on UK roads. For individuals who are coming to the end of their initial 12-month period, we would encourage them to exchange their driving license if eligible.

Motor Vehicles: Waste Disposal

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for a vehicle scrappage scheme in (a) Greater London and (b) neighbouring counties.

Mr Richard Holden: Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and TfL. This includes decisions with regards to road schemes which charge users such as the Mayor’s decision to expand the ULEZ, which were in his Transport Plan, backed by the Liberal Democrat Group in the London Assembly. The Mayor of London has received over £6 billion since March 2020. We have been clear that Government grant funding, via the longer-term funding settlement, cannot be used to cover the cost of implementing his ULEZ expansion. The Mayor must cover this cost through alternative sources. It is for the Mayor to consider the need and budget for any funding the impact his decision has on drivers and businesses impacted inside and outside of London.

Driving Tests

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people with London addresses have booked driving tests outside London for each of the last five years.

Mr Richard Holden: The results from any such interrogation of driving test data would be inaccurate as some people turn up for their driving test with their old address on their provisional driving licence. Candidates may choose to book a driving test outside of the area they live for a variety of reasons, for example students at university.

Driving Tests: North Lincolnshire Council

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of working with North Lincolnshire Council to use its buildings as driving theory test centres.

Mr Richard Holden: Although the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has recently increased the number of theory test centres by over 10%, this specific proposal is not currently under consideration.

Buses: Carbon Emissions

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department held with devolved administrations on the rollout of zero-emission buses before 11 February 2020.

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings between his Department and devolved administrations took place at which policy on zero-emission buses was discussed between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020.

Mr Richard Holden: We can only provide this information at disproportionate cost.

Driving Tests: Standards

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the average wait for a driving test from booking was in each of the last five years.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people logged on to book a driving test online at 6am on the most recent Monday for which his Department holds information; how many of those people who logged on successfully booked a test; and at what time all slots were taken.

Mr Richard Holden: Data held by the DVSA, which could appear to suggest the average time between booking a test and taking a test, would be misleading. This is because the booking system records the last date the candidate made the latest booking, and does not take into account the date of the original booking, or any subsequent bookings made by rescheduling the test slot. For example:A candidate books a test 4 weeks ago and is due to take their test in a further two weeks’ time. The system would show a wait time of 6 weeks.The same candidate goes online today, and finds a cancellation test slot for one week’s time. They amend their original booking and change the test date to one week’s time. The system would suggest the candidate has waited 1 week for their test, when in reality they have been waiting 5 weeks.  We do not know how many people logged on at 6am for the most recent Monday and booked a test.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers: Freedom of Information

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make (a) Returning Officers and (b) Electoral Registration Officers subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Alex Burghart: It is the Government’s intention to bring forward proposals to make Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers subject to the Freedom of Information Act when legislative time allows and following appropriate consultation.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Department plans to respond to the email of 27 April 2023 from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton on the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Jeremy Quin: I thank the honourable Member for his continued engagement on this important subject, I would like to reassure the honourable Member that I responded to his email on 24 May 2023.

Treasury

Housing: Energy

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential incentive to decarbonise homes of extension of the Value Added Tax (Installation of Energy-Saving Materials) Order 2022 to Northern Ireland.

Gareth Davies: At Spring Statement 2022, it was announced that the installation of qualifying energy saving materials in residential accommodation in Great Britain would benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until 31 March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent. At that time, the relief could not be introduced in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Following the agreement of the Windsor Framework, however, these changes were extended to Northern Ireland on 1 May 2023. This support will aid households in improving the energy efficiency of their homes and will help to reduce carbon emissions. Further information on the impact of this VAT relief in Northern Ireland specifically can be found in this Explanatory Memorandum and this Tax Information and Impact Notice on the extension of the relief to Northern Ireland. At Spring Budget 2023, the Government published a call for evidence seeking views on further potential areas for reform to this VAT relief. The call for evidence closed on 31 May 2023. We are carefully analysing the responses received, and will publish a summary of responses and next steps in due course.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Julian Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of fuel duty rates in light of changes in the levels of electric car ownership.

Gareth Davies: Petrol and diesel prices continue to be volatile given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and inflation remains high. So, at Spring Budget 2023 the government announced continued support for households and businesses by maintaining the rates of fuel duty at the current levels for an additional 12 months by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2023-24. This represents a saving for drivers this year of overall around £5bn and for the average car driver around £100. The shift to zero emission vehicles is crucial for decarbonising the transport sector and tackling climate change, while injecting billions of pounds worth of investment into our economy and creating high skilled jobs. As the Government’s Net Zero Strategy set out, as we transition to net zero, the government will need to ensure that the tax system encourages the uptake of electric vehicles, and revenue from motoring taxes will need to keep pace with this change. The Government keeps all taxes, including fuel duty, under review.

Cryptocurrencies: Electronic Funds Transfer

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that bank customers can freely transfer their money to cryptocurrency exchanges.

Andrew Griffith: The Government remains committed to supporting safe innovation within the cryptoasset sector, and HM Treasury recognises concerns about the impact of decisions taken by banks with respect to consumer payments to crypto businesses. However, these are commercial, risk-based decisions driven by a range of factors, including compliance with financial crime obligations. As such, it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene at this stage. The Government is encouraging the crypto industry, in the first instance, to engage directly with UK banks, UK Finance and other relevant trade associations. In parallel, HM Treasury is working towards a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cryptoasset sector which may influence decisions taken by UK banks with regards to controls or restrictions on payments.

Central Bank Digital Currencies

Danny Kruger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April to Question 181066 on Cryptocurrencies, whether he plans to publish a response to the consultation on the digital pound.

Danny Kruger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of  25 April to Question 181066 on Cryptocurrencies, if he will provide a timeframe for when the Government will (a) conduct and (b) publish an assessment of the impact of a central bank digital currency on the commercial banking sector.

Andrew Griffith: In February 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England published a joint consultation on a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). A response to this consultation will be issued in due course following the close of the consultation on 30 June 2023.

Members: Correspondence

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to reply to the correspondence dated 16 January 2023 from the Rt Hon Member for Chingford and Woodford Green and others on the fundraising appeal by London’s Air Ambulance; and whether he has held discussions with representatives of that charity on its fundraising appeal since 16 January 2023.

John Glen: My Rt Hon Friend the Health secretary has responded to the letter on behalf of the Government commending the fantastic service provided by London Air Ambulance and setting out the benefits of the current charitable funding model for air ambulances which was supported by an additional £10m of central government funding in 2019 and a further £6m during the pandemic.

Sunscreens: VAT

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reclassifying sunscreen products as essential healthcare items for VAT purposes.

Victoria Atkins: VAT rules do not distinguish between supplies on the basis of whether they might be considered essential. The standard rate of VAT applies to most goods and services, including sun safety products. High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and therefore is provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist. The Government keeps all taxes under review, however, there are currently no plans to change the VAT treatment of sunscreen products.

Remote Working

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his comments on returning to offices at the British Chamber of Commerce Conference on 17 May 2023, what assessment he has made of the benefits to (a) employees, (b) companies and (c) the economy of a return to office working.

Gareth Davies: I agree with the Chancellor of the Exchequer that there are social, creative, and developmental benefits to working from an office on a regular basis. The Government will continue to work with relevant stakeholders representing both employers and employees on this issue of remote working. It is also important to acknowledge that flexible working – including but not limited to remote working - can help employees balance work commitments and personal circumstances, such as parenting, caring, managing a health condition, or transitioning from full-time work later in life, but the Government’s view remains that there is no one size fits all policy. Decisions on whether a job can be done flexibly should be taken between employers and employees.

Freezing of Assets: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reforming the trust fund system to help ensure they cannot be used by people to evade sanctions associated with the invasion of Ukraine.

Gareth Davies: The UK has imposed the most severe package of financial sanctions in history in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and working with partners, we are isolating Russia from the global economy. In December 2022, the Government introduced new sanctions which specifically prohibit UK persons from providing trust services to or for the benefit of designated individuals or persons connected with Russia.In addition, last year the government introduced the Register of Overseas Entities through the Economic Crime, Transparency and Enforcement Act. The register collects information on the beneficial owners of trusts who own UK property. This information, alongside that in HMRC’s register of UK trusts is made available to UK law enforcement agencies. This gives law enforcement the tools it needs to identify and prevent criminals who may wish to use trusts operating in the UK to launder money. The Government will continue to keep our response under review to ensure that as illicit finance threats evolve, our ability to respond effectively does too.

Wines: Excise Duties

Paula Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the changes to the rates of Alcohol Duty on the wine industry.

Gareth Davies: The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the assessment of impacts from changes to the duty rates made at the Spring Budget 2023. The Government had to make some tough decisions at Spring Budget in line with its commitment to managing the UK economy responsibly. However, prior to this, the wine industry has benefitted from freezes at 4 out of the last 5 fiscal events. Further, through the Government’s historic alcohol duty reforms, we are standardising the treatment of still and sparkling wine, providing a substantial duty cut for sparkling wine. In addition, lighter wines below 10.4% will pay less duty from 1 August.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of Exchequer, with reference to the National Semiconductor Strategy, published 19 May 2023, whether it is his policy to fully restore R&D tax credits that were reduced to incentivise research and development.

Victoria Atkins: Semiconductors are an essential component for the functioning of almost every electronic device we use, as well as underpinning future technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum and 6G. To support this vitally important sector, the Semiconductor Strategy set out how £1 billion of Government investment over the next decade will improve access to infrastructure, power more research and development and facilitate greater international cooperation. As part of the ongoing research and development (R&D) tax reliefs review, the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2022 that the R&D tax reliefs would be reformed to ensure taxpayer’s money is spent as effectively as possible, whilst leaving the level of R&D related business investment in the economy unchanged. The SME scheme cost twice as much as the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC), and its cash value to firm was three times that of RDEC - yet it incentivised as little as 60p of additional R&D for each £1 spent, compared to as much as £2.70 additional R&D per £1 of RDEC. Following the corporation tax rise from April 2023, the SME scheme would have become even more generous in cash terms, and RDEC less. The Chancellor committed to considering the case for further support for R&D intensive SMEs, and at Spring Budget announced a new permanent rate of relief for the most R&D intensive loss-making SMEs. This is worth around £500 million a year and will benefit around 20,000 SMEs a year by 2027-2028. To support modern methods of innovation, the Government is expanding the scope of qualifying expenditure for R&D tax reliefs to include data, cloud computing and pure mathematics costs. This means that businesses will be able to claim more R&D tax relief for cutting-edge R&D methods such as genome sequencing, machine learning, and data analytics.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Construction

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the funding for the 20,000 additional prison places is from his Department's baseline budget.

Damian Hinds: Our capital requirement is confirmed at each Spending Review (SR) in line with the department’s capital requirement in that period, and are not considered within the department’s baseline. At SR21 we received Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) funding to deliver the 20,000 prison places. Capital funding required to complete construction in future SR periods will be subject to further discussions with HMT. This is in line with the standard approach to capital funding. Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) funding was received at SR21 to manage new places as they come online in this SR period; funding for capacity that comes online in future SR periods will be subject to funding at future Spending Reviews.

Prisons: Pepper Spray

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185401 on Prisons: Pepper Spray, if his Department will publish the full evaluation of the roll out of PAVA.

Damian Hinds: A full evaluation of the roll out of PAVA and use of force is currently being undertaken to consider impacts on prisoners and staff. The evaluation will be published once completed and peer reviewed.

Prisons: Restraint Techniques

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185406 on Prisons: Restraint Techniques, if he will set a target date for publication of national use of force statistics.

Damian Hinds: The department continues to work towards publication of national use of force statistics. In order to publish the data, we must ensure it meets minimum standards and be robust for the purpose of its intended use and scrutiny. This is be considered alongside other priorities for data publication, and therefore there is not firm date for publication.

Prisons: Construction

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what sites new prison places are scheduled to be built from 30 May 2023.

Damian Hinds: We are scheduled to deliver at the following sites from 30 May 2023:ProgrammeSiteNew PrisonsHMP MillsikeGarth Wymott 2*Gartree 2*Grendon 2*HMP Gartree Houseblock **Private prisons – houseblockHMP Rye HillHouseblocksHMP BullingdonHMP Channings WoodHMP ElmleyHMP ErlestokeHMP HighpointHMP WaylandHMP Guys MarshHMP StockenHMP Rye HillRefurbishmentsHMP BirminghamHMP NorwichHMP LiverpoolRapid Deployment CellsHMP ErlestokeHMP Foston HallHMP Hollesley Bay **HMP LittleheyHMP RanbyHMP RochesterHMP SendHMP The VerneHMP WhattonHMP WealstunWomen’s EstateHMP Eastwood Park **HMP Foston Hall **HMP Send **HMP Styal **HMP Drake HallCategory DHMP HatfieldHMP Leyhill **HMP Springhill **HMP SudburyHMP Ford **HMP Standford Hill ** * New prisons at these sites are subject to ongoing planning appeals.** Delivery at these sites is subject to planning permission.Any additional sites not listed here are commercially sensitive and information released about these would prejudice the department’s negotiating position and ability to achieve value for money in these developments.

Prisons: Construction

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made how much of the budget allocated to build 20,000 additional prison places (a) has been spent and (b) remains.

Damian Hinds: To date (April 2023), the Portfolio has spent £1.3bn and there is a further £2.5bn allocated for the remainder of this SR period. Future budget allocations will be confirmed at future Spending Reviews.

Prisons: Construction

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of how many of the 20,000 additional prison places by 2025 have been built.

Damian Hinds: As of 5 June 2023, 5,202 prison places have been delivered within the 20,000 prison places portfolio, including through two brand-new modern prisons. In addition, we have delivered c.700 temporary places through modular units and have extended the lease at HMP Dartmoor, maintaining 680 places from December 2023.

Prison Accommodation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183237 on Prison Accommodation, what guidance his Department issues on the appropriate amount of time out of cell for prisoners.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of his Department holding data on time spent out of cell across all prisons in England and Wales.

Damian Hinds: We are committed to delivering purposeful activity within prisons: our plans for prison regime reform are set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)As noted in my reply of 9 May, there is no central requirement governing the amount of time that prisoners should spend out of their cells. Governors have the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes to meet the needs of their establishment’s population. The collection of data on time spent out of cell is not currently practicable.

Sexual Offences: Evidence

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the impact of the use of (a) section 28 pre-recorded evidence and (b) live evidence on jurors' perception of witnesses in rape  and serious sexual offences cases.

Edward Argar: Since September 2022, when we completed the rollout of pre-recorded cross-examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Courts in England and Wales, we have completed a process evaluation of the provision. The process evaluation, published on gov.uk on 3 April 2023, explored if the section 28 provision was working as intended and if any improvements were required. The evaluation did not examine the impact of section 28, therefore it did not compare the impact of pre-recorded versus live evidence.

Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the length of waiting lists for counselling for victims of sexual violence.

Edward Argar: The NHS Long Term Plan commits this Government to investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year to expanding and transforming mental health services by March 2024. This will enable an extra two million people, including victims of sexual violence, to be treated by NHS mental health services. In February 2022, NHS England also published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services. Which will enable victims of sexual violence to be referred sooner. These give new access and waiting time standards are:For an ‘urgent’ referral to a community based mental health crisis service, a patient should be seen within 24 hours from referral, across all ages;For a ‘very urgent’ referral to a community based mental health crisis service, a patient should be seen within four hours from referral, for all age groups;Patients referred from Accident and Emergency should be seen face to face within one hour, by mental health liaison or children and young people’s equivalent service;Children, young people and their families/carers presenting to community-based mental health services, should start to receive care within four weeks from referral; andAdults and older adults presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive help within four weeks from referral.

Legal Aid: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) solicitors and (b) not for profit organisations provided legal aid work on civil law cases in Wales in each year from 2012 to 2022.

Mike Freer: The information is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The requested information can be found in table 9.2 and covers the period from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2022. Data for financial year 2022-2023 is due to be published on 23 June 2023.The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services is met across the country. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.

Northern Ireland Office

Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to help ensure the retention of Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service.

Mr Steve Baker: The provision of advice services, such as the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service, is a devolved matter. The Northern Ireland Department for Communities, has responsibility for the delivery and sponsorship of such organisations in partnership with local councils. The right people to make decisions on funding these services are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these institutions, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland department, in this case, the Department for Communities, and by extension Belfast City Council, to manage funding, including provision for the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Copyright

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January to Question 133539 on Copyright, whether her Department has concluded its stakeholder engagement on implementation options for copyright protection from text and data mining.

Paul Scully: As announced at Spring Budget on 15 March 2023, the Government will work with creative industries and AI developers to develop a code of practice on text and data mining licensing by the Summer. This engagement is currently underway.

Semiconductors: Finance

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Semiconductor Strategy, published 19 May 2023, whether she plans to increase the availability of scaleup funding programs to assist the commercialisation of semiconductor businesses.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Semiconductor Strategy, published 19 May 2023, what plans she has to incentivise research and development in the UK semiconductor industry.

Paul Scully: Through the National Semiconductor Strategy the government announced an investment of up to £200 million over the years 2023-25 and up to £1 billion in the next decade.This builds upon significant support for high-tech enterprise including a £500 million per year package of support for R&D intensive businesses through changes to R&D tax credits announced in the Spring Budget, and through ‘full expensing’ for companies incurring qualifying expenditure on the provision of new plant and machinery.In addition, over the past 10 years alone, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has invested £539 million into semiconductor related research. And through InnovateUK, we have distributed £214 million of grants over the last 10 years directly to SMEs in the semiconductor sector.The Government has also supported over 450 PhD students since 2017 to begin semiconductor related research and we currently have 7 active Centres for Doctoral Training. We will continue to provide support for these Centres to help produce the next generation of internationally recognised doctoral researchers.To aid commercialisation we will pilot a new UK incubator programme in 2023 to support new semiconductor start-ups in the UK to grow and thrive. This programme will aim to lower the barriers to growth for new companies in the sector, by providing access to design tools and prototyping, business coaching and improve access to private finance.We will also announce plans by the autumn to further support the competitiveness of the UK’s semiconductor manufacturing sector.

Semiconductors: Foreign Investment in UK

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Semiconductor Strategy, published 19 May 2023, what plans she has to clarify inward investment regulations with (a) European, (b) Asian and (c) American nations to enable improved commercial development for UK semiconductor businesses.

Paul Scully: The Government will always enthusiastically champion free trade. We recognise that the vast majority of inward investment is highly beneficial to our economy and prosperity.However, the openness of our economy can increase vulnerability to risks in some sectors, including semiconductors, and in the resilience of our supply chains. We need to mitigate these risks in order to protect our citizens and to continue to enjoy the benefits of a secure open economy.We know from industry feedback that we can be clearer and more transparent about the parts of the sector we want to protect. The National Semiconductor Strategy commits to publishing further guidance for industry so that they can better understand how we view the most sensitive parts of the UK’s semiconductor sector.